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I think I made a discovery about myself today. Since this is a blog, I suppose it is OK to just talk about me, me, me.
My epiphany is that I don't think I care about stories.
I'm not interested in arcs, or closure, or conflict and resolution. I care mostly about moods and characters.
Two recent television shows have sparked this realization - Lost (on ABC) and John From Cincinnati (HBO). I love both shows, I always greedily anticipate the next episode, but through conversations with others and by reading criticisms and discussions on-line, I've come to realize that I view these kinds of things differently than others do.
Both shows are mysterious. In neither one do you really know what is happening (especially in John from Cincinnati). I'm sure I am not alone, but I don't really CARE what's going on. Sure, on some level, I find the mystery perplexing and it keeps the rhythm of the programs going. But, all I really care about it is the characters, the moods, the dialogue, and the images.
I was recently reading some discussions about John from Cincinnati on Television Without Pitytv and it seems that many people are just getting terribly frustrated by the lack of any forward momentum in explaining what in the world is going on. They're giving up - threatening to not watch anymore. "Throw us a bone!" one person suggested and it looks like this might be the way the majority feels, as talk of cancellation has been heard.
What's wrong with me? I don't care if the story ever gets explained, I have little interest in knowing what's going on. I don't need to figure it out. I'm just revelling in the interaction of the oddball characters. It's the same with Lost. I'm not interested in the mystery so much, I just want to see Hurley talking to Sawyer and then have a polar bear walk by. All I seek out is the feeling of the beach at sunset and the discovery of vans in the jungle.
Or what about Harry Potter? Story Shmory, I just want to feel like I'm at a sleep over in a castle.
Looking back over movies and books that I love, I've suddenly come to realize that it's not the story that I remember fondly, it is the atmosphere, the characters, the emotion. All my life, I've always heard praise of the story. "You need a good story". "The greatest story ever told". But I don't buy it.
The story is just the dough of the pizza. It's important, sometimes, it's too soft, sometimes it's burned, sometimes it's perfect, but I rarely walk away from a meal and think back to the dough.
Am I wrong?
4 comments:
Well, you can't be wrong, 'cause it's *your* opinion. I did struggle with whether or not your analogy works--if the dough sucks, so does the pizza, no matter how delicious the prociutto and olive topping is, no matter how fresh and green the basil... So, although I don't know if I'm the same way as you about caring more for the elements than the story (and I think I might be) , I *definitely* part ways with you on the pizza!
The first thing I thought of when I read this though, is a conversation I just had with Jim about Bob Dylan vs. Bruce Springsteen...
Do you think Bob Dylan ever uses a rhyming dictionary??
see, what I think is funny is that you are one of the better story-telling songwriters out there.
Then again, you may not set out to tell a story (Disgruntled Lover, One Lady Dancing) but the listener makes it into one. Like, I guess Something's Taking over doesn't tella story, but it's descriptive. I always picture the coming in from the rain, the umbrellas, etc.
Ok, that's all.
No, it's not.
Conversely, I can tell a long-ass winded story that'll put anyone to sleep, but my songs are usually just a series of disparate images culled from 30 something years of living and having a too-good memory of stupid events.
--me, Brian, on another computer so I don't remember my log-in.
Ina,
A rhyming dictionary? Dylan?
I bet he was willin'.
Brian (anonymous),
It's not that I don't like stories. I just like the other stuff more.
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